“Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is experiencing a surge capacity crisis, with exceptionally high numbers of admitted patients. Every effort is being made to support patient care and flow.

Due to the current situation:

Visitors to the Emergency Department are restricted due to high levels of respiratory illness in patients and physical space limitation;

Non-urgent patients in the ED may experience longer than usual wait times.

We are asking for the community’s support and understanding as we use our resources in the best ways possible, so that all patients get the right care at the right time.

This may include:

Placing male and female patients in the same room when other options are not available;

Placing patients in the most appropriate room, regardless of insurance coverage;

Moving patients from one room to another, depending on changing health care needs.

Most importantly, anyone who requires emergency services will be treated at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre – you will NEVER be turned away. For non-urgent care, please visit primary care providers, including family physicians and nurse practitioners. For a list of walk-in clinics, call 211.

Nobody will ever be “discharged early” or be otherwise refused services at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Those who require acute care will always have access to acute care.

We continue to provide care to people from across Northwestern Ontario, and to provide surgeries as scheduled.

We continue to provide care to people from across Northwestern Ontario, and to provide surgeries as scheduled.

We are working closely with our partners in health care – the North West Local Health Integration Network and St. Joseph’s Care Group – to identify and implement any actions that may relieve pressure at our Hospital.”

Background: Understanding Surge Capacity

Surge capacity is a situation at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where there are more patients than beds normal bed occupancy. As a result, new patients who come through the Emergency Department and need to be admitted often have to wait for a bed to open up, or end up being admitted to temporary accommodations, such as Family Lounges (sunrooms) or day surgery stretchers.

Are there enough beds?

Yes, there are enough beds for acute care patients. Our bed capacity is 375 beds. A large contributing factor in surge capacity is the number of Alternate Level of Care, or ALC patients. If the ALC patients could be discharged to more appropriate beds in the community, we would have empty beds.

What’s an ALC patient?

ALC patients at our Hospital are those who no longer need specialized acute care. They do not need to be in a hospital, but still need some form of health care after their hospital visit, be it in a rehabilitation hospital, or a long-term care facility.

Why can’t ALC patients be sent home?

In most cases, the services they need exceed what community agencies can provide in a health care setting. So, even though they are medically safe to leave from our specialized acute care standpoint, they simply have nowhere else to go until those services become available. Unfortunately, there is currently a shortage of Long-Term Care beds and community services.

How many patients can the Hospital hold?

We have a 375 bed capacity for our admitted patients. During periods of surge capacity, we may admit 430 admitted patients, and sometimes more, including an average of 60 – 70 ALC patients.

Can you add more beds?

The number of beds a hospital operates depends on the funding it receives from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. A “bed” is much more than a physical bed. It requires medical supplies for the patient in it, the support of specialized staff (housekeeping, dietary, laundry, etc.), and the care of nursing professionals, physicians and other health care providers.

Physically, we could find space for more beds. However, Ministry dollars are better applied to developing community capacity for ALC patients.

Can patients be turned away? Will they be discharged early?

Anyone who requires emergency and specialized acute care services will NEVER be turned away. Nobody is ever “discharged early”. Those who require specialized acute care always have access to it here.

What are you doing about it?

Unfortunately, surge capacity challenges are ongoing. However, we have made great strides in addressing this problem. Along with our partners in health care, we help patients get the right care, at the right time, by the right provider. We have been able to improve patient flow by significantly reducing the average length of time patients stay in the Hospital for their treatment. We are also looking at who truly needs to be in a hospital bed and whether they can be treated as effectively and safely in an outpatient setting, such as day surgery for instance.

Recently, we have had an average of 393 admitted patients per day, which is an improvement from last year’s average of 406.

I know these periods in surge capacity are a strain on our staff, and I am extremely grateful to them.

Is this only a ‘Thunder Bay’ problem?

Hospitals across Ontario and Canada are experiencing this problem. However, our Emergency Department is one of the busiest in Ontario with about 9000 visits per month – which can compound the problem.

Unlike most hospitals in Ontario, we cannot divert patients to another Emergency Department until occupancy is reduced. In addition, of all the specialized acute care hospitals in Ontario, ours is the furthest from a referral centre. Furthermore, we are the only trauma centre, have the only NICU, the only stroke unit, etc. in Northwestern Ontario. Our doors always remain open to all Northwestern Ontario residents who urgently need specialized acute care.

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